Fetus maternal adaptation

To appreciate the role of laboratory tests in pregnancy health care, it is necessary to understand fundamental topics, such as conception, embryo development, fetal growth, the role of the placenta, the importance and composition of amniotic fluid, maternal adaptation to pregnancy, and functional maturation of the fetus. 

Flexibility of the maternal soft tissues in the pelvis, adaptation of the ligaments and bony pelvis to the fetus... 

Fig. P-67. Protein accumulation in the fetus during pregnancy. (Adapted by the authors from Toverud, K. U., et a/ Maternal Nutrition and Child Health, An Interpretive Review, National Academy of Sciences, 1950, p. 36, Fig. 3)...

Maintenance of pregnancy, i.e. maternal tolerance to foreign tissue of the fetus, calls for crucial immunological adaptations, which also involve the metabolism of sialic acid. Endocrinologically controlled changes in sialic acid content of the cervical mucus of the uterus during the menstrual cycle are of... 

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